December 21, 2020
Listening selections for the week of December 20, 2020, best enjoyed with a French press of Stumptown Coffee Roaster’s Founders Blend, for blissful, comforting notes of vanilla and chocolate.
Highlights include:
Tranquil acoustic rumination from nick. of Oregon Space Trail of Doom fame
The Avalanches reaching for the divine, with the help of Johnny Marr and MGMT
Enlightened dancefloor jazz from trio Triorität
Low key the funkiest cut on Innervisions
The best boom-bap jazz rap of 2020 from underground talents Blu & Exile
Bubbly progressive psych from Northern California’s Art Feynman
A highlight from Rin Sawayama’s self-title debut, one of the year’s most innovative pop records
A swaggering B-side from Mr. Gnome’s excellent The Day You Flew Away
Prince-inspired pop funk from OK Go’s 2010 classic Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky
Juicy lo-fi jazz from Resavoir and Sen Morimoto
21st Century global groove from Ethiopian musician Mulatu Astatke and Black Jesus Experience
Tobe Nwigwe, continuing to kill it over thunderous bass, this time with the help of MC Lil Kekek
A reprieve from the underwhelming trap of Kid Cudi’s latest Man On The Moon III: The Chosen
Wistful, lo-fi R&B from Cleveland talent Peachcurls
A gorgeous, slinky collaboration between Little Dragon and Moses Sumney
Disco heat from Dua Lipa’s modern pop classic Future Nostalgia
One of the 10 greatest songs ever written, referenced in the aforementioned Tobe Nwigwe cut
Woozy self-produced indie rock from Los Angeles’ Hana Vu
Relaxation inducing postrock from Scott Hansen
Fruitful psychedelic experimentation from Detroit’s Deadbeat Beat
Shimmering jangle pop from short-lived ‘80s outfit The Springfields
Blown out and brooding electro-pop from Banks’ 2019 offering III
A trance-inducing house rager from Simon Green, aka Bonobo, and always excellent Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
Sweeping synth pop from Joji’s Nectar
A galactic fusion of Krautrock, shoegaze and techno from Russian stargazers Gnoomes